


A Moment

by Thalatte



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 09:54:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11205627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thalatte/pseuds/Thalatte
Summary: A moment before the fall.





	A Moment

**Author's Note:**

> Ficlet for a moment after Delilah disappears. Very much inspired by the use of Silence in [this great bit of writing](http://arkhamarchitecture.tumblr.com/post/161714632712/so-okay-this-is-the-other-angry-version-of-percy).  
> Posted to Tumblr under thirdhouseofwhitestone

Vex knew immediately this was wrong. That this moment was not right. A tipping point that should not have happened, that should not have even been possible. With all tipping points, there was no time to pause and consider, she knew what needed to happen. A leap of faith through a door that could shred them apart and smash them into nothing. But not now. Not immediately. Forget _that_ moment, she wanted  _this_ moment. A moment of her making, because there was no realm where that _woman_ was going to be more important than her heart.

Making a barely perceptible gesture to her brother, an acknowledgement and a quick whispered command to not follow, Vex grabbed Percy by his coat and dragged him back down the tunnel they had used to come to this impromptu battleground.

Wrong. Incredibly wrong. Percy didn’t object, didn’t make a noise, didn’t make a movement that wasn’t directed by Vex as she stole him away into the darkness. She primed herself, ready to speak to him, to guide him as they fled from whatever light could provide him some small bit of sight. No reaction to move closer to her when she knew he couldn’t see. Vex gripped his arm tighter and stopped.

Percy stopped.

Vex listened.

Sharp, fast breathing was deafening in the silence of the tunnel. Vex took a moment to steady herself to loosen the grip on Percy’s coat, to look at him.

Quick, rapid beats of air. Percy staring straight ahead. Not at her, she knew he couldn’t see, but she also knew that the blank stare would have been the same in the lit cavern. Here in the dark, the unfocused panic appeared almost normal. Vex held his face between her hands.

“Darling. Darling, listen. We are strong and you are brilliant and she will not win.”

No acknowledgement. Eyes too wide. Breathing too rapid. Vex chewed her bottom lip.

“We won’t walk into a trap again. Not like before. We are so much more clever now.” Vex paused again. “Percival.”

A name triggered a blink. She smiled.

“Percival, silence. For us. For you. Please.”

Vex wasn’t sure he’d understand, but of course he did. He was maddening, and so was she. Two people should not be able to communicate that well without clear statements, but trust translates many things.

Percy reached over to Diplomacy and in an instant, breathing and heartbeats and the sound of Vex’s fingers over Percy’s stubble disappeared. Vex’s arms wrapped around Percy’s shoulders and she pulled him down onto her. No resistance, probably no sound of objection. She held him in place, his form hunched over her shoulders, his face buried in her hair.

Vex felt a rush of air past her ears and into Percy. Felt his chest rise and his shoulders clench, his hands tightening around her waist.

And then release.

Not clean, not a gentle letting go. Barely letting go at all. She felt the vibration in his chest, the tightening of his arms around her. Percy’s chest deflating as she felt him push _out_. A force of void within a void of silence expressed into her hair. She felt the stuttered intake of another breath, his chest inflating against her, acting as it was only taking air in out of obligation and not need.

Multiple times the pattern repeated. Inflating. Deflating. The side of Vex’s head where Percy’s face had rested felt wet with tears or saliva or who knows what. Vex held him until his breathing slowed, normalized. Dramatic movement replaced with a rattling in his shoulders that she felt in his throat and his face as she plucked him away from her.

Taking a corner of her cloak, Vex dried his tears with the least filthy segment she could find, and wiped away the spit and phlegm across Percy’s chin. She handed him her water-skin and he drank. Percy coughed silently around a couple mouthfuls before sealing it and handing it back in Vex’s direction.

He stared straight ahead. Waiting. Her hands no longer there to guide him. He couldn’t see her, and she was happy for that. To see him stand with no direction, no _care_ , hurt her. He would stay there in silence and darkness if she left.

Vex took his left hand slowly. She brought Diplomacy up to her chest and tapped the center glass compartment on the back. No sound, but she felt the vibration through to her palm beneath, knowing he felt the same. Percy flicked his wrist to break the silence.

The world came crashing back. Heartbeats. The dirt and stone being nudged beneath their feet. Rock settling around them. A cave being a cave, and earth making the noises that earth does when it is finally noticed that the world is truly never completely silent.

His ragged breathing mixed with the quiet sobs Vex failed to notice she had been making. With the sound guiding him, it almost appeared as if Percy was looking at her. A lie, but one she would accept because it was needed. She kissed him.

“We’ve had a moment. Now we do what needs to be done.”

Percy nodded.


End file.
